Unique bridge connects cancer care specialists to patients

Sunday

DPR construction workers deftly maneuvered a 150-ton glass and steel enclosed walkway bridge — stretching 124 feet long and weighing roughly the same as a standard unfurnished house — into place above San Marco Boulevard to connect the original Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center with its soon-to-open facility.

They made it look easy — real easy — as a small crowd of curious neighbors joined Baptist Health officials to watch a pair of 450-ton cranes make the final lift and methodically eased the bridge into place on top of two 36,000-pound columns.

"This is a once in a lifetime building from my standpoint. You cannot ask for a more technical building from an architectural standpoint or a structural standpoint," said Scott Gibbs, DPR Construction superintendent, who is in charge of the bridge project.

"You're not going to see a building quite like this. …" said Gibbs, a 19-year veteran construction professional with a degree in building science. "It's definitely something that stands out in San Marco. Definitely stands out in Jacksonville and in my opinion, the Southeast as a whole."

Hugh Greene, Baptist Health president and chief executive officer, described the bridge "as one more milestone as we move toward the opening of the new Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center."

The new facility is across San Marco Boulevard from the existing Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, which opened in October 2015.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, headquartered in Houston, is the most highly rated cancer treatment facility in the nation. Baptist Health in Jacksonville is among five major medical centers nationwide partnering with MD Anderson, and is the only one in Florida.

"It's really transformative for our community in terms of care for patients and their family. So, I like to think this bridge is sort of a symbolic representation of another step in the journey to opening the center," Greene said.

Costing about $150 million, the new 332,000 square foot facility is expected to open late this summer. The center will mirror the highly coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to care pioneered by founder MD Anderson, Greene said.

Greene said there also will be a community park featuring an original brightly colored sculpture being created for the cancer center. It's intended as a gift for the San Marco community, he said.

"We're calling it Hope Park. The sculpture will be installed sometimes in June," he said. Everyone of those steps brings them closer to the center's opening, he said.

The bridge is a key component to the center's expansion, which Greene said, in turn will benefit Jacksonville's economic development.

"We're adding ultimately 600 jobs with an average income of over $100,000," Greene said.

Baptist officials say about 2,500 cancer patients a year receive care at the Jacksonville cancer center. They travel from throughout Florida and Georgia, and as far away as the Carolinas and Alabama, they said.

Bill Putnam, a thoracic surgeon and medical director of Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, said their patients have access to state-of-the-art technologies, treatment protocols and options as the nation's leading cancer center. The bridge is intended to help the center better meet needs of each patient throughout the continuum of care …from diagnosis through treatment and wellness, Putnam said.

"What this bridge will do is connect our cancer program, which is diagnosis and treatment and survivorship with our outpatient center, which is really for prevention and screening and some diagnostics as well," Putnam said.

It took a total of seven lifts — each shifting the bridge approximately 20 degrees to get it in place. The last two lifts were done Sunday as wind buffeted the workers.

The final lift was completed about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. They had hoped to have the bridge in place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. but took extra precautions including moving the bridge closer before lifting it onto the two columns.

"No, 'whoops,' is not a word you want to hear on something like this," Gibbs said with a smile. "Slowly and methodical is the story. You take your time on this kind of deal."

The bridge is reminiscent of the Main Street bridge with its structural elements. Nonetheless, it is unique, which also made it challenging — in part because glass had never been used in a bridge of its kind before now.

"We did not have design for this 14 months ago technically. I basically told everyone what I wanted to do and the design revolved around what I wanted to do," Gibbs said. The team including structural engineers, DPR Construction experts and architectural firm as well as others met every week for the past 14 months to make Gibbs' vision a reality.

They built the bridge on the ground. The bottom part rested on saw horse-like structures that then were unbolted from the bridge as it was lifted up and placed on support columns.

Sunday, workers four shackles with the capacity of holding 75 tons each — one at each corner of the hurricane- resistant bridge — to help lift it into into place.

Describing them as a "great team," Gibbs said about 380 people worked on the project including about 60 erecting the bridge Sunday.

San Marco Boulevard will remain closed with traffic detoured around the construction site until 5 a.m. Monday as a safety precaution, Gibbs said.

Teresa Stepzinski: (904) 359-4075

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